GEOLOGY 65 



petrological chemists permanently on the staff. Nigeria feels the 

 lack badly, and the Director there is obtaining an African, trained 

 in chemistry at the Higher College, Yaba, with a view to training 

 him for routine analyses. At present in Nigeria the information 

 gathered by the four field geologists cannot be used until the 

 requisite analyses are made. Although a certain amount of ana- 

 lytical work can be done in England at the laboratories of the 

 Imperial Institute and elsewhere, the long delay occasioned by 

 sending material to England makes this an unsatisfactory arrange- 

 ment. In particular the information obtained by preliminary 

 determinations of minerals and assays must be prompt to be of 

 value to prospectors. 



With regard to palaeontology the position is more difficult, since 

 every specialist is an expert on only one or two groups of fossils. 

 Hence, the departments must rely on specialists in England. In 

 Africa, however, there are comparatively few areas where it is 

 necessary to study stratigraphy in detail with the aid of fossils, 

 because the greater part of the continent is made up of ancient 

 or igneous rocks. Sir Thomas Holland (1934) considers that, from 

 experience in Great Britain, U.S.A., Canada, and elsewhere, a 

 minimum efficient staff for a geological survey should be twenty- 

 one geologists, including at least seven specialist officers, such as 

 petrologists and palaeontologists. In view of the small funds 

 available from colonial governments an increase in personnel to 

 such numbers is impossible at present, but Sir Thomas Holland 

 is fully convinced that geological and mines development would 

 be greatly accelerated by the amalgamation of services in near- 

 by colonies, according to the following groups: i. Gold Coast, 

 Nigeria, Sierra Leone. 2. The Rhodesias. 3. Kenya, Uganda, 

 Tanganyika, Nyasaland. 



This question is so important that it may be considered in rather 

 more detail. With regard to the West African group of territories, 

 the Directors of Geological Surveys, though agreeing that group 

 amalgamation is desirable, do not consider that it is practicable 

 at the present time, in view of the difficulty of communications. 

 Moreover, the present staff consists of six geologists in Nigeria, 

 four in the Gold Coast, and one in Sierra Leone, so that to reach 

 Sir Thomas Holland's minimum number of tv/enty-one, the staff 



